Shin Shin renovates a midcentury gem in South Los Angeles

The Contemporary Ranch–style home Dacoury Dahi Natche (known professionally as DJ Dahi) bought on a winding street in View Park, a historically African American neighborhood in South Los Angeles, presented many challenges to renovation and was in desperate need. In addition to its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the 2-story home is composed of CMU and brick, making additions and subtractions essentially out of the question. Its interior had been heavily remodeled over the years by previous owners in ways that made the 2,800-square-foot home feel smaller and less functional than necessary for Dahi’s growing family. The living spaces were bereft of natural light and filled with flourishes typical of the 1980s (think faux stones, mirror walls, and beige-pink tiles).

house renovated by shin shin — The house is located in View Park, a historically African American neighborhood in South Los Angeles. It is composed of CMU and brick. (Yerin Mok)

Dahi reached out to Melissa Shin of the local architecture firm Shin Shin to bring the home into the 21st century while highlighting features original to its construction in 1949. “The biggest move was to remove the unnecessary elements added over time while also making up for the fact that this is one of many midcentury houses with surprisingly little storage space,” Shin told AN Interior. All the walls in the core of the space are now lined with ample yet discreet storage solutions, often only making themselves visible with a push in the right place. “Much of the budget is hidden in the walls,” said Shin, additionally referring to the need to drastically update the home’s utility wiring after decades of neglect.

kitchen and living room inside house — The former wall between the kitchen and living room is preserved as a set of beams over the kitchen island. (Yerin Mok)

kitchen with olive green cabinets — Melissa Shin updated the kitchen with a trio of skylights. (Yerin Mok)

Shin Shin removed a false ceiling and walls in the kitchen and installed a trio of skylights in the original wood-slatted roof, bathing the room and its new herringbone flooring in a uniform glow. The outline of the former wall between the kitchen and living room is preserved as a set of beams over the monumental kitchen island—a row of unbroken dark olive-green cabinets beneath a countertop in fresh concrete by Caesarstone.

view of ceiling beams and kitchen counter — The counter top is concrete by Caesarstone. (Yerin Mok)

a yellow upholstered breakfast nook in kitchen in renovated house by shin shin — A George Nelson–designed pendant light illuminates the breakfast nook. (Yerin Mok)

A linear pendant light by Sonneman almost imperceptibly hovers between the beams, while the Salt Creek Gloss subway tiles between the cabinets, by Fireclay Essentials, further allow the more colorful details to shine. Leather barstools and an airy breakfast nook upholstered in sunflower yellow beneath a George Nelson–designed pendant light complement the cabinetry.

a green-tiled bathroom — Shin used color on the floors of the bathrooms to help ground the spaces. (Yerin Mok)

blue terrazzo tile in bathroom — Speckled, terrazzo-like tiles cover the bathroom floors and line the walls behind the plumbing fixtures. (Yerin Mok)

All of the bathrooms, meanwhile, are materially divided in two along a single, unbroken horizontal line. “The floor is always ‘dipped’ in a color as a way of grounding the space,” said Shin, “and highlighting that differentiation with the ceiling,” allowing the unique roofing to stand out even in the smallest space of the home. The speckled, terrazzo-like details of the large-format tiles along the bottom half are brought out by Rich Brilliant Willing–designed sconces finished in wavy glass brick.

Shin Shin renovates a midcentury gem in South Los Angeles with a statement kitchen in shades of olive

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